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I don’t normally ambush people like in “What Not to Wear,” but if someone asks me for style help, let’s just say I nearly pee my pants with excitement. As I mentioned earlier this week, I’m in South Carolina visiting my in-laws, and my mother-in-law Cindy said she wanted my help cleaning out her closet and shopping. Well…twist my arm.

Cindy is an excellent candidate for a style makeover because (a) she actually wants help, (b) she already has lots of cute clothes, and (c) she loves to shop.

You might be wondering what Cindy even needed my help for. Well, Cindy’s problem is that she’s still hanging on to some less than attractive garments that for some strange reason she thinks it’s OK to still wear. And as for the cute stuff she already has, she doesn’t always do the best job at styling it. You see, Cindy comes from what I like to call the Matchy Match Generation. She thinks that the way to make a cute outfit is to pick a couple colors that look good together and make everything you wear one of those colors.

For example, in the picture below, Cindy styled the outfit on the left. While the print mixing was a great fashion-forward choice, notice that she picked a yellow belt, yellow earrings, and yellow shoes. Please make it stop. I restyled her (picture on the right) with bronze sandals, some silver accessories, and a pop of turquoise in her bracelet. She said the turquoise made her nervous – let’s try not to make fun of her; she’s new at this.

I had a great time going through Cindy’s closet and saying things like “are you in middle school?” and “are you a Florida retiree?” She would respond with excuses like “well it’s really soft,” and then I would say “I don’t care” and throw it dramatically on the floor. I don’t mess around.

Below is the pile of clothes for Goodwill. The picture doesn’t do it justice – it was huge! And yes, that is a velour paisley blazer on top. Now you understand why I was needed.

Then of course we had to do some shopping for some stylish and age-appropriate clothes. Cindy shopped like a champ. She ended up with 3 skirts, 2 tees, a blouse, a tank, 3 pairs of shoes, a summer scarf, a necklace, a bracelet, a clutch, and a belt.

That night we went out to dinner and I dressed Cindy in a new outfit. Doesn’t she look beautiful?!

[…] of the pictures I took on my recent trip to the Carolinas. In addition to giving my mother-in-law a makeover and going to see the Lion King, I also went to the Biltmore Estate. I had only been there once […]